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Webster  Family  Library  of  Ve'  'edicine 

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200  Westboro  Road 

North  Grafton.  MA  01536 


With    leaves    o'er    head    and    verdure    to    the    brink, 
A  restful  place  where  cattle  come  to  drink. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses 


By  CAPTAIN  A.  H.  WADDELL 


Copyrighted  1911 


Published  by  the 

PEDIGREE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

819    Exchange    Avenue 

Chicago,  111. 


5 


Illustrations  from  Photographs 

by 

Robert  F,  Hildebrand,  Chicago,  111. 
W.  A.  Rouch,  London,  England, 
Montague  Dixon,  London,  England 
G.  H.  Parsons,  Alsagar,  England 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  object  of  this  book,  which  is  dedicated  to  the  stock- 
men and  breeders  of  the  United  States,  is  to  point  out 
to  those,  who  while  engaged  in  the  business  of  stock 
raising,  may  not  have  realized  the  tremendous  opportuni- 
ties and  extraordinary  possibilities  of  the  live  stock 
industry  in  this  country.  Big  as  it  is,  and  enormous 
as  the  numbers  of  live  stock  that  are  breed  here  are, 
the  industry,  as  far  as  the  breeding  of  pedigreed  stock  is  con- 
cerned, is  in  its  infancy.  America,  although,  through  the 
generous  hand  of  nature,  has  been  so  richly  endowed  and 
plenteously  provided  for  in  everything  that  goes  to  make  a 
large  portion  of  it  a  stockman's  paradise,  seems  not  to  have 
as  yet  realized  the  fact  of  its  rapidly  increasing  population, 
the  demands  of  foreign  nations,  the  spread  of  civilization,  and 
the  increase  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  world.  All  these  must 
be  provided  for;  everybody  must  be  fed;  the  rich  and  leisure 
classes  of  this  and  other  countries,  supplied  with  horses  for 
their  i)leasure  and  amusement,  and  the  great  military  nations 
(tf  the  world  provided  with  animals  for  the  maintenance  of  their 
cavalry,  artillery,  mounted  infantry,  and  transport.  America, 
through  her  enormous  grazing  lands,  her  soil,  fertility,  and 
climate;  through  her  splendid  isolation,  though  readiness  of 
access  to  the  East  and  the  West  of  the  world,  and  through  her 
absolute  indej  endence,  seems  chosen  by  Nature  to  play  this 
great  part  in  the  world's  welfare. 

Now  is  the  sowing  time ;  let  her  scatter  good  seeds  through- 
out those  of  her  domains  which  are  best  suited  for  their 
growth,  and  surely  shall  she  reap  the  richest  of  harvests 
therefrom. 

A.  H.  Waddell. 

Chicago,  January,  1011. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


THE  EASIEST    ROAD    TO    ACHIEVEMENT   IS   ALONG 
THE  PATH  OF  LEAST  RESISTANCE. 

HOW  often  do  we  liud  a  voimg  man,  who,  either  from  stress 
of  circumstances,  from  the  well  meant  but  ill  advised 
wishes  of  a  father,  the  arbitrary  ruling  and  powerful 
influence  of  guardians,  bachelor  uncles  or  old  maid  aunts, 
pressed  into  some  profession  or  business  for  which  he  is  totally 
unfitted,  and  against  which  his  natural  impulses  and  desires 
revolt,  and  which,  while  bravely  as  he  may  accept  the  inevita- 
ble, and  nobly  as  he  may  work  to  make  a  success  of  that  which 
is  forced  upon  him,  an  unseen  hand  seems  silently  to  point, 
and  an  invisible  magnet  attract  him  along  a  road  he  craves  to 
follow  but  must  not  go. 

Thousands  upon  thousands  of  splendid  young  men,  manly, 
level  headed  fellows,  have  been  prevented  from  developing  the 
best  there  is  in  them  from  this  very  cause,  and  made  to  pursue 
a  course  that  has  been  against  their  natural  tendencies  and 
best  judgment,  and  who,  after  honestly  working  out  their  very 
souls,  have  never  succeeded  in  doing  anything  more  than  or- 
dinary, while,  if  they  had  been  permitted  to  follow  the  normal 
and  natural  tendencies  of  their  own  inclinations,  would  have 
blossomed  into  something  worth  while,  and  left  behind  them 
names  and  records  that  would  have  been  written  down. 

Not  only  would  they  have  done  this,  but  they  would  have 
done  it  with  a  fraction  of  the  labor,  an  atom  of  the  wear  and 
tear,  and  with  a  pleasure  and  delight  that  would  have  made 
their  lives  a  dream  in  comparison,  and  their  path  along  a 
flower-grown  lane,  instead  of  over  an  uphill  road  strewn  with 
rock  and  boulders. 

With  the  normal  youth  of  courage  and  constitution,  with 
a  clear  perception  of  what  life  means,  and  the  tremendous  odds 
in  favor  of  his  endeavors  if  he  pursues  the  right  course,  with 
this  great  big,  generous  world  before  him,  it  is  a  crime  to  try 
and  wean  him  away  from  that  which  nature  has  best  fitted 
him  for,  and  his  inborn  aptitude,  talents,  disposition  and  wishes 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


call  liim.  This  joung  fellow  will  make  a  success  of  whatever  he 
undertakes  in  this  way,  while  he  will  make  a  miserable  failure 
of  anything  else  that  is  forced  upon  him,  even  if  a  fortune  be 
expended  on  his  education,  and  a  princely  amount  of  money 
given  him  to  start  the  repulsive  work. 

This  young  man,  if  allowed  to  follow  the  trend  of  his  own 
desires,  with  a  rudimentary  education  and  no  money,  will  bud, 
l)lossom  and  bear  fruit  of  the  richest  kind,  and  will  distance 
liis  unfortunate  contemporary  to  such  a  length  that  the  latter 
will  be  completely  lost  sight  of  and  left,  even  in  the  dawn  of 
his  career,  and  will  have  to  fight  for  every  inch  of  ground,  till 
footsore,  weary  and  worn  out,  he  reaches  those  splendid  years 
of  early  middle  age,  an  old  man,  while  the  companion  of  his 
youth  of  equal  years,  is  young,  vigorous,  happy  and  contented, 
dwelling  in  the  midst  of  love,  peace  and  contentment,  in  the 
bosom  of  his  family,  respected  and  beloved  by  his  fellow  men 
and  honored  by  his  country. 

Nature,  through  his  brain,  tells  the  normal  young  man 
whither  to  steer  his  course,  and  nature  directs  and  guides 
him  over  the  smoothest  seas  and  easiest  paths.  It  is  unnatural 
to  choose  the  wild  Atlantic  Ocean  when  a  placid  lake  will 
serve  the  same  purpose.  It  is  against  the  dictates  of  a  normal 
brain  to  juck  out  a  rocky  mountain  path  in  preference  to  a 
Vieautiful  country  road  when  both  lead  to  the  same  place. 
Obstacles  at  every  gust  of  wind  in  the  one  case,  and  at  every 
step  in  the  other,  present  themselves,  yes  I  throw  themselves  in 
the  way,  while  the  other  path  is  smooth ;  and  by  the  very 
choosing  of  the  one  which  nature  has  whispered  in  the  ear  to 
choose,  the  waves,  pitfalls  and  quicksands  of  life  have  been 
avoided. 

So  it  is  then,  that  the  young  man  who  voluntarily  chooses 
that  which  he  knows  is  best  fitted  for  him,  is  bound  to  make 
a  success,  while  the  other  poor  fellow,  bravely  as  he  may  fight, 
who  has  had  his  path  and  calling  chosen  for  him,  only  finds 
failure  at  the  end  of  an  almost  impassable  road  and  a  heart- 
breaking journey. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


A  MOMENTOUS  QUESTION. 

ONE  of  the  great  questions  that  confront  this  country  to- 
day, and  one  of  vital  importance,  is  that  which  has  to  do 
with  the  migration  of  the  bone  and  muscle  of  young 
America  to  the  great  cities  of  the  country. 

This  continuous  stream  of  young  countrymen  to  the  great 
towns  and  cities  of  the  land,  is  due  in  a  large  measure,  to  the 
''Fairy  Tales"  of  wealth  and  greatness  written  in  books  and 
periodicals,  and  stories  told  around  the  fireside  by  some  one 
who  has  heard  what  somebody  said,  and  what  somebody  told 
somebody  else. 

Glowing  accounts  are  unfolded  of  how  a  young  man  fresh 
from  the  farm,  had  worked  his  way  to  New  York  or  Chicago, 
and  after  endless  hardships,  arrived  at  one  of  these  great  cities 
hungry  and  exhausted;  and  how,  in  a  fainting  condition,  he 
was  f(Hind  by  some  benevolent  old  lady  wlio  took  him  to  lier 
home,  cared  for  him,  nursed  and  fed  him  back  to  health  and 
strength,  and  gave  him  a  job  watering  the  flowers  in  the  gar- 
den, where  he  met  her  beautiful  niece,  heiress  to  many  millions. 
How  he  wooed  and  won  her,  the  magnificence  of  the  wedding, 
and  the  flower  strewn,  sunny  path  they  trod  for  ever  after- 
wards. 

Another,  after  the  hardest  of  digging,  to  earn  enough  to 
keep  body  and  soul  together ;  sleeping  in  the  corners  of  tumble 
down  buildings  and  pest  ridden  and  vermin  swarmed  lodging 
houses,  secures,  through  the  kindly  hand  of  some  philanthropic 
old  gentleman,  a  position  as  office  boy  in  a  bank.  Years  and 
years  of  uphill  labor,  with  never  a  breath  of  the  prairie  air  or 
the  sight  of  a  summer  country  landscape,  finds  liim  seated  in  the 
presidential  chair. 

So  the  stories  end  in  the  books  or  by  tlie  fireside;  but  the 
"real  thing"  reveals  a  very  diff"erent  as])ect. 

The  former,  out  of  liis  element,  out  of  his  station  in 
life,  out  of  himself  in  fact,  has  cut  loose  on  the  "Great  White 
Way."  The  footlights  have  allured  him,  and  soft  brown  eyes 


10  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


beckoned  him  away  from  his  rich  wife,  and  a  divorce  has  left 
liim  where  he  was  a  few  years  before,  with  no  friends,  no 
mone}^,  and  worse  than  that,  no  business  or  profession;  the 
best  part  of  his  youthful  days  gone,  too  old  to  learn  anything, 
no  inclination  to  take  off  his  coat  and  put  his  shoulder  to  the 
wheel,  and  in  short  a  derelict  upon  the  restless  waves  of  life. 

The  other,  begotten  in  poverty,  born  in  poverty,  reared  in 
poverty,  and  steeped  in  poverty,  tinds  himself  in  control  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  be  juggled  into  millions. 
The  game  is  a  tempting  one,  too  alluring  for  such  a  brain  to 
withstand,  too  great  for  such  a  man  to  control.  He  "plays  the 
game'';  it  goes  against  him;  and  now,  like  hundreds,  yes! 
thousands  more,  at  forty  years  of  age  he  is  serving  out  a  peni- 
tentiary sentence  that  will  leave  him  sixty  when  it  is  over,  a 
wreck  on  the  Rock  of  Time. 

Not  all  turn  out  like  this,  however,  but  the  percentage  of 
those  who  succeed  is  but  as  a  thousand  to  one  as  against  those 
who  fail.  Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at.  The  cause  is  obvious. 
What  are  the  chances  of  the  farm  bred  boy  against  the  son  of 
the  millionaire  city  man?  A  splendid  school  and  college  edu- 
cation, an  inbred  business  instinct  begotten  of  his  father,  a 
business  training  from  the  cradle  to  manhood,  and  a  burning 
desire  to  follow  in  his  father's  footsteps;  and  through  his 
superior  education,  and  modern  methods  and  environments, 
determined  to  improve  and  increase  the  business  that  has  been 
left  him,  and  double  and  quadruple  his  father's  millions. 
The  country  man  will  find  it  a  pretty  hard  game  in  these  days 
of  lightning  rapidity,  and  amidst  such  surroundings,  to  buck 
against  a  combination  such  as  this. 

Now  let  us  for  a  moment  reverse  the  question.  Let  us  place 
this  millionaire  city  man's  son  with  his  college  education  and 
drawing-room  accomplishments,  on  a  great  Western  ranch, 
in  the  open  air,  with  all  its  bracing  effects  and  exhilarating 
influences;  its  balmy  breezes,  the  fragrance  of  its  flowers,  its 
glorious  dawn,  and  its  wonderful  sunset.  Let  us  place  him 
there  on  the  top  of  this  rich,  generous,  fruitful  soil,  among  the 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


11 


bawling  cattle,  the  range  horses,  the  sheep  and  the  swine. 
^yhere  would  he  be?  What  use  could  he  possibly  be  put  to? 
What  good  would  he  be  in  comparison  with  the  rugged,  ruddy 
faced,  good  natured,  smiling  farmer's  son,  with  a  chest  like  a 
hogshead,  shoulders  like  a  hercules,  and  arms  and  thighs  that 
a  sculptor  would  love  to  copy?  A  young  fellow  who  doesn't 
know  what  restraint  means,  a  free,  jovial,  laughing,  singinp 
son  of  the  prairie,  a  man  who  would  face  a  lion  and  think  it 
fun,  and  a  man  who  could  throw  his  arms  around  his  sweet- 
heart's or  his  wife's  neck  and  say,  this  is  Heaven  to  me  with 
you  by  my  side — I  want  no  other — no  divorce,  no  jail  here. 
A  life  only  of  honest  labor,  a  breeder  of  the  flesh  we  eat,  a 
man  who  feeds  the  world,  a  man  who  makes  his  countrv. 


FOOD,  WATER  AND  SHADE 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  18 


ITS  SOLUTION. 

THE  solution  of  this  question,  is  the  realization  bj  the 
breeding  and  farming  element  of  the  country,  that  they 
have  in  the  grass  that  grows  and  the  stock  thev  can 
breed,  an  institution  safer  than  any  bank  in  America,  and  a 
fortune  greater  than  any  combination  in  the  world. 

The  breeders  of  herds  and  flocks,  and  the  tillers  of  the  soil, 
were  the  men  who  first  made  the  world  habitable,  and  until 
food,  living,  and  present  conditions  are  comi)letely  revolu- 
tionized, and  until  every  acre  of  cultivatable  soil  is  jjut  to 
some  other  use,  the  breeder  and  farmer  will  be  the  mainstay 
of  the  world.  He  is  to  the  land  what  the  ship  is  to  the  sea; 
the  only  practical  means  of  support  in  the  one  instance,  as 
the  other  is  the  only  practical  means  of  conveyance. 

Food  is  the  one  absolutely  necessary  essential  to  the  main 
tenance  of  life,  everything  else  without  it  is  positively  use- 
less. 

The  world  could  not  exist  a  fortnight  without  food,  and 
although  it  might  be  argued  that  the  fruits  of  the  field  would 
do,  such  an  argument  is  based  upon  such  ignorance  as  is  not 
worth  consideration. 

The  vegetarian,  in  his  plausible  argument  for  a  diet  com- 
posed entirely  of  vegetables,  and  in  every  instance,  brought 
about  by  an  abnormal  condition  of  his  own  digestive  tract, 
whereby  he  is  unable  to  assimilate  and  make  use  of  animal 
flesh — which  by  the  way,  is  the  most  easily  digestible  of  all 
foods — shows  a  condition  of  abnormality,  an  unsound  organi- 
zation, and  a  state  of  health  which  is  certainly  not  calculated 
to  improve  the  human  breeds,  nor  add  to  the  constitutional 
soundness  and  stamina  of  the  race. 

These  people  forget  that  man  is  in  reality  a  flesh  eating 
animal,  and  while  he  is  capable  under  certain  conditions  of 
existing  upon  a  diet  in  some  measure  composed  of  vegetables, 
still  animal  flesh  has  been  the  diet  that  has  made  man  what  he 
is  today,  and  will  continue  to  be  the  basic  principle  upon  which 


14  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


he  must  live,  in  order  to  maintain  the  physical  strength  and 
character  of  the  race. 

The  canine  teeth,  found  in  the  mouth  of  every  normal  indi- 
vidual of  the  human  breeds,  is  proof  positive,  not  only  of  his 
flesh-eating  nature,  but  also  that  he  will  continue  to  be  a  flesh- 
devouring  animal  so  long  as  these  teetli  remain,  and  who  shall 
say  when  this  shall  cease. 

As  age  succeeds  age,  and  time  in  its  flight  rolls  over 
millions  of  years,  evolution  is  working  its  sure  but  unrecog- 
nizable changes  in  everything  that  is  earthly,  and  so  slow  are 
the  changes  wrought,  that  it  would  be  only  after  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  years  that  the  faintest  alteration  from  conditions 
as  we  know  them  today,  could  be  recognized,  even  by  a  scientist, 
who,  if  it  were  possible,  had  lived  today,  died,  and  come  to  life 
again  a  million  years  hence  at  least. 

This  shows  then,  beyond  argument,  that  man  is  a  flesh-eat- 
ing animal,  and  that  flesh  has  always  formed  the  basis  of  his 
diet;  and  that  part  of  it  also,  which  has  made  him  what  he  is 
since  the  day  of  his  creation,  and  is  the one  thing  that  will 
continue  to  make  and  keep  him  from  deteriorating  both  physi- 
cally and  mentally. 

It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  writer  to  go  into  statistics, 
but  it  will  be  perfectly  clear  to  the  reader  that  the  vastly  and 
rapidly  increasing  population  of  this  country  is  going  to  call 
for  meat  supplies  that  are  almost  past  belief  and  understand- 
ing. 

If  the  breeding  of  cattle,  sheep  and  swine  is  not  pushed, 
pursued,  and  made  above  all  others,  the  foremost  industry  of 
the  land,  this  extraordinary,  this  vast,  broad,  rich,  fertile 
country,  instead  of  being  a  land  wherefrom  the  peoples  of  the 
earth  may  be  supplied  with  meat,  will  become  a  purchaser 
from  other  lands  to  supply  its  own  demands. 

With  the  business  acumen  of  the  ordinary  American,  and 
the  keenness  of  his  foresight,  it  is  astounding  that  such  ob- 
vious conditions  as  these  seem  to  have  been  lost  sight  of. 

Humbugged  b}^  stories  of  the  amassing  of  fortunes,  lured  by 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


15 


tlie  phantom  millions  of  Wall  Street,  fascinated  by  dreams  of 
city  life,  the  brawn  and  muscle  of  the  country  have  been  drawn 
in  millions  to  these  conjested  masses,  to  live  lives  that  for  the 
most  part  have  done  little  good  for  themselves,  and  nothing 
for  the  country. 

It  is  time  to  "Go  Back  to  the  Farm";  not  to  the  hard  labor 
and  toil  of  our  fathers,  but  to  the  pleasant  and  profitable 
business  of  breeding.  Not  also,  to  the  raising  of  the  old-time 
Texas  steer  and  razor  back  hog,  but  to  produce  pure-bred  stock, 
one  of  which  will  yield  double,  treble,  quadrup^le  the  price  of 
the  stock  that  "father  used  to  raise.'' 

To  meet,  therefore,  the  rapidly  increasing  and  fast-grow- 
ing population,  and  consequently  the  crying  demand  for  meat 
at  reasonable  prices,  as  well  as  the  enormous  calls  upon 
America  from  every  country  on  earth,  for  her  refrigerator,  as 
well  as  her  canned  meats,  the  breeding  and  stock  raising  in- 
dustry, with  its  ever  ready  and  j)rofitable  markets,  presents 
by  far  the  greatest  opportunity  for  the  country  bred  youth  of 
America  to  make  money,  to  make  it  quickly,  and  to  make  it  in 
such  a  way,  that  with  a  level  head,  failure  is  next  to  impossi- 
ble.   "The  people  must  be  fed." 


^^5. 


m^^ 


J 


THE  FLOWERS  OF   THE    FLOCK 


X 


•j^g^  . 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  17 


WHAT  BREEDING  IS. 


BREEDING,  in  its  broad    sense,    is    the  propagation  of  a 
species ;  but  it  means  very  mucli  more  than  this  from  a 
commercial  standpoint.     It  means,   in  meat  producing 
animals,  an  improvement  through  blood   lines,  selection  and 
individuality,  upon  their  ancestors. 

The  crossing  of  two  breeds  of  the  same  species,  a  combina- 
tion of  which,  in  the  opinion  of  experts,  would  develop  benefic- 
ially in  the  offspring,  certain  desirable  points  outstanding  in  the 
one,  while  not  so  pronounced  in  the  other ;  and  at  the  same  time 
produce  other  valuable  qualities  outstanding  in  the  other, 
while  not  so  well  marked  in  the  mate.  This  method,  followed 
by  the  most  careful  selection  of  stock  animals  on  both  sides, 
and  through  a  system  of  the  most  careful  registration,  has 
been  the  means  of  producing — and  especially  in  Great  Britain, 
wliich  leads  the  world  by  many  lengths  as  the  mother  of 
scientific  as  well  as  practical  breeding —a  large  number  of 
various  breeds  of  the  domestic  animals,  to  a  point  of  perfec- 
tion, not  only  in  general  beauty  of  outline,  fineness  of  quality, 
rapid  development  and  early  maturity,  but  of  a  size,  weight 
and  commercial  value  that  has  never  before  been  reached,  and 
the  blood  of  which,  for  breeding  purposes,  as  represented  in 
certain  individuals,  is  worth  thousands  upon  thousands  of  dol- 
lars, which  previously  would  have  brought  nothing  more  than 
their  market  value  as  ordinary  food. 

This  system  of  breeding  has  been  pursued  with  such  con- 
summate skill,  care  and  exactness,  that  it  is  possible  now  to 
breed  certain  animals  so  true  to  type,  size,  weight  and  general 
cliaracteristics  that  they  are  as  much  alike  as  ''peas  in  a  })od," 
as  the  old  saying  has  it;  and  not  only  is  this  the  case,  but  the 
flesh  is  so  much  superior  to  that  of  the  same  species  of  the  old 
days,  that  it  would,  in  many  cases,  not  be  recognized  as  coming 
from  the  same  kind  of  animal. 

This  splendid  system  has  been  pursued  among  all  the 
animals  that  enter  into  the  sphere  of  man's  daily  environment. 


18  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


Cattle,  sheep,  pigs,  horses,  dogs,  cats,  rabbits,  poultry  and 
more  than  that,  for  it  embraces  song  birds,  game,  fish  and  the 
creeping  things  of  the  earth.  Scientists  have  even  nursed, 
strengthened,  and  developed  bacteria  of  a  vigorous  and  healthy 
nature  that  prey  upon  disease  germs,  and  so  maintain  a  health 
and  vigor  of  body  in  those  who  otherwise  would  succumb  to 
the  inroads  of  these  death-dealing  organisms. 

Breeding  for  outstanding  qualities  such  as  are  desirable 
in  the  various  animals,  has  reached  such  a  point  that  improve- 
ment seems  impossible,  but  breeding  is  still  in  its  swaddling 
clothes,  its  process  in  its  babyhood,  its  growth  limitless,  and 
its  possibilities  infinite  and  extraordinary. 

In  cattle,  sheep  and  swine  of  the  best  beef,  mutton  and 
pork  breeds,  size,  weight,  type  and  outline,  combined  with 
enormously  increased  bulk  and  fineness  of  quality  and  a  dis 
position  to  put  on  flesh  in  a  short  period  of  time,  with  the  mini- 
mum amount  of  bone  development,  have  been  the  principal 
characteristics  sought  for  and  obtained,  thereby  vastly  in- 
creasing their  value  as  feeding  and  meat-producing  propo- 
sitions. 

The  breeding  of  horses  on  the  other  hand  has  been  directed 
along  many  channels,  and  each  effort  has  met  with  such  suc- 
cess as  to  be  little  short  of  wonderful.  Galloping  (running) 
in  one  instance,  trotting  in  another,  action  in  a  third,  com- 
bined with  symmetrical  beaut}^  and  elegance  of  form;  and  al- 
ways— unlike  the  breeding  of  cattle,  sheep  and  pigs — with  an 
aim  towards  an  increase  in  the  size  and  quality  of  the  boney 
frame.  Heavy  draughters  have  been  bred  for  type,  size,  bone, 
weight  and  immense  hauling  powers,  and  thought  has  never 
been  lost  sight  of  towards  improving  the  temper,  temperament 
and  disposition.  Other  animals  have  been  bred  along  lines 
best  calculated  to  better  them  for  the  purpose  for  which  they 
are  required,  and  the  whole  system  has  been  studied  and  car 
ried  to  such  successful  ends  that  further  improvement  would 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


19 


seem  well  nigh  impossible,  still,  as  stated  before,  the  dawn 
only  has  broken,  and  the  day  will  develop  such  changes  as  the 
layman  cannot  realize,  and  only  the  scientist  partially  under- 
stand. 


CLYDESDALE   MARES   AND   FOALS 


GALLOWAY  STEERS 


A  CLYDESDALE  GELDIN< 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  21 


ANOTHER  SIDE  OF  THE  BREEDING  QUESTION. 

THE  raising  of  beef,  mutton  and  pork,  is  only  one  side  of 
the  great  live  stock  industry  of  this  nation,  the  other 
allied  side  being  the  breeding  of  horses;  and  great,  and 
all  important  as  the  former  may  be,  no  less  necessary  in  many 
ways  is  the  latter. 

Horses,  and  particularly  the  heavy  draught  breeds,  are  in- 
dispensable to  the  requirements  of  the  country,  and  particu- 
larly in  the  great  agricultural  West  and  the  large  cities,  where 
heavy  horse  power  is  absolutely  necessary,  and  will  continue 
to  be  necessary,  notwithstanding  the  motor  vehicle  and  every 
other  kind  of  mechanical  contrivance. 

This  generation,  and  another  and  another,  and  yet  many 
more,  will  have  passed  into  oblivion  before  the  usefulness  of 
the  horse  begins  to  show  the  faintest  signs  of  wavering.  He 
is  more  in  demand  today  than  ever  before  in  his  history,  not- 
withstanding statements  to  the  contrary;  and  his  price  is 
greater  than  it  has  ever  been.  So  much  are  heavy  draught 
horses  of  the  Shire,  Clydesdale,  Percheron  and  Belgian  breeds 
in  demand,  that  importers  are  not  able  to  meet  the  calls  upon 
them,  and  their  breeding  in  this  country  is  in  such  a  state  of 
infantile  helplessness  that  it  actually  amounts  to  nothing. 
Scrub  and  grade  horses  are  bred,  it  is  true,  but  their  days  are 
numbered,  for  in  the  course  of  general  advancement  and  im- 
provement, they  will  pass  from  our  sight  and  die  the  death 
that  everything  meets  that  does  not  keep  pace  with  the  general 
and  overpowering  demand  for  better  things. 

The  markets  of  England  and  Scotland,  those  mothers  of 
heavy  draught  horse  breeding  of  the  Shire  and  Clyde  families, 
and  France  and  Belgium  as  the  birthplace  of  those  honest 
slaves,  the  Percheron  and  Belgian  breeds,  are  ever  open  to  the 
buyers  of  the  world,  and  it  is  for  the  American  purchaser  to 
not  only  buy,  but  to  purchase  the  very  best  that  each  country 
provides,  and  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  heavy  draught  horse 
industry  with  sound  parent  stock,  and  in  time,  make  foreign 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


purchase  unnecessary.  Imagine  what  this  will  mean  for  the 
country,  and  in  cool  moments  of  reflection,  consider  jouv  own 
pocket,  and  what  embarkation  in  heavy  draught  horse  breed- 
ing would  mean  to  your  bank  account.  It  is  a  sound,  safe, 
solid  investment;  a  crying  demand  for  what  the  country  hasn't 
got,  and  a  demand  that  must  be  satisfied  at  whatever  cost 
This  is  where  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Wales,  France  and 
Belgium  have  the  quiet  laugh  at  America,  the  silent  chuckle 
at  the  United  States. 

All  these  different  countries  are  mentioned  because  we  are 
obliged  to  go  to  them  all  for  the  fashionable  breeds  of  horses 
each  produces. 

We  go  to  England  for  Shires,  Hackneys  and  polo  ponies : 
Scotland  for  Clydes  and  Shetlands ;  Ireland  for  Hunters ; 
Wales  for  Welsh  ponies ;  France  for  Percherons  and  Belgium 
for  Belgians,  when  we  should  be  breeding  them  all  ourselves 
as  good  or  better,  and  for  prices,  which  instead  of  going  into 
foreigners'  pockets,  should  find  their  way  into  our  own. 


Tif 


te**^ 


GOOD    MORNING 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  23 


SPLENDID    EDUCATIONAL   ADVANTAGES    OFFERED   BY 
AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTIONS 

EDUCATION  is  generally  regarded  as  something  that 
enables  anyone  to  read,  write  and  talk  grammatically, 
to  be  proficient  in  the  knowledge  of  mathematics,  his- 
tory, geography,  a  close  acquaintance  with  the  writings  of  the 
great  men  of  the  past  and  present,  an  ability  to  speak  one  or 
more  languages,  information  regarding  important  past  and 
present  events,  and  the  many  and  varied  accomplishments  of 
the  age.  This,  however,  is  but  a  narrow  view  of  the  subject  as 
it  is  \dewed  by  practical  men  of  the  world,  and  by  those  who 
have  become  proficient  in  the  various  professions  and  trades 
which  go  to  make  up  the  great  mass  of  progress  and  achieve- 
ment. The  man  who  could  entertain  a  drawingroom  full  of 
ladies  through  his  knowledge  of  things  poetical,  or  who  could 
charm  them  with  his  musical  genius,  would  find  himself  hard 
pressed  were  he  called  upon  to  earn  his  livelihood  on  a  Westerr 
ranch.  The  statesman  would  be  in  the  same  position  when 
called  upon  to  serve  before  the  mast,  or  the  clergyman  who 
had  to  strip  to  the  waist  and  work  in  the  stokehole  of  a  trans- 
atlantic liner.  With  the  exception  of  reading,  writing  and 
arithmetic,  the  practical  education  of  life  consists  in  a  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  whatever  business  a  man  elects  to  follow. 
and  pushes  to  the  limit  of  the  capacity  of  a  level  head. 

There  is  no  enterprise  or  business  that  offers  greater  ad- 
vantages to  the  rugged  youth  of  America  of  today  than  the 
breeding  of  live  stock.  There  is  no  produce  so  stable,  no  mar- 
ket so  sure  and  no  future  so  propitious  as  that  of  breeding 
meat  animals  and  horses,  and  there  is  no  country  on  earth  so 
generously  endowed  by  nature  for  its  fulfillment. 

The  world  is  fast  becoming  civilized,  and  faster  calling  for 
the  blessings  that  civilization  brings  about.  Vast  territories 
of  hitherto  unknown  countries  are  becoming  peopled  by  the 
white  race  with  their  refining  and  enlightening  infiuence;  the 
earth  is  becoming  more  densely  populated  with  human  beings 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


25 


of  more  intelligent  and  intellectual  minds,  and  the  growth  of 
human  brotherhood  is  so  pron.ounced  that  it  is  only  the  his- 
torian himself,  who  can  actually  realize  in  a  thought,  the 
progress  that  has  been  made  in  the  last  hundred  years. 

Of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  of  all  its  peoples,  how 
glorious  it  is  to  realize  that  this  great  country,  the  United 
States  of  America,  is  in  the  van,  and  leads  all  others  through 
its  progressive  ways,  up-to-date  methods  and  go-ahead  princi 
pies.     With  all  this,  however,  for  some  unaccountable  and  un- 


GENTLENESS   AND   INNOCENCE 


explainable  reason,  this  country  has  not  taken  the  advantage 
she  might  have  done  in  her  live  stock  industry,  and  seems  to 
have  been  content  in  this  regard,  to  depend  more  or  less  upon 
what  has  been  going  on  in  the  past,  rather  than  preparing  foi 
the  future. 

As  has  been  stated  in  the  early  part  of  this  book,  America 
has  for  years  been  the  great  provider  of  meat  and  horses  for 
other  lands,  and  has  reaped  untold  millions  as  its  reward. 

Today,  however,  the  question  faces  us,  how  are  we  going  to 
provide  for  our  enormously  increasing  population,  and  still 
retain  the  name  of  the  great  caterer  to  other  nations  ? 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


27 


TTVO    OF    A    KIND 


If  the  live  stock  iudustry  of  this  country  is  not  increased, 
it  will  be  but  a  short  time  before  the  United  States  will  be 
unable  to  supply  its  own,  and  this  is  nothing  short  of  suicide, 
self-sacrifice,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  Western  state.' 
alone  are  able  today,  to  supply  not  only  the  requirements  of 
the  country,  but  to  fill  to  repletion  the  peoples  of  Europe  and 
the  far  East  with  all  the  meat  that  their  own  lands  are  in 
capable  of  producing,  and  all  the  horses  that  their  immense 
armies  are  crying  for  and  their  fashionable  pursuits  demand 
There  is  enough  grass  in  this  Western  country  to  feed  stock- 
in  numbers  that  can  hardly  be  realized,  and  with  the  scientific 
methods  of  advanced  farming,  to  grow  enough  grain  to  put 
tliem  in  such  market  condition  as  no  other  country  could  ap- 
proach. Even  with  such  advantages  as  these,  silos  and  silage, 
besides  keeping  stock  in  better  condition,  practically  doubles 
the  value  of  the  corn  crop,  and  enables  the  farmer  to  feed  twice 


28 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


A  HAMPSHIRE   BARROW 


SOUTHDOWNS 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  29 

as  many  animals  to  the  acre  as  he  could  under  the  old  system. 
Such  conditions,  with  the  educational  opportunities  of  acquiring 
practical  knowledge  through  the  various  agricultural  colleges, 
state  fairs  and  live  stock  exhibitions,  the  youth  of  America 
whose  taste  runs  in  the  direction  of  stock  breeding,  is  in  a 
better  position  to  become  expert  in  its  methods  than  the  youth 
of  any  other  nation  under  the  sun;  and  apart  from  this,  the 


HAPPY  AND   CONTENTED 

future,  the  returns  and  the  fortunes  that  await  the  stock 
breeders  of  this  country  are  so  immense,  as  compared  with  a  like 
industry  anywhere  else,  as  to  make  comparison  an  impossi- 
bility. In  addition  to  this,  look  at  the  life,  look  at  the  free- 
dom, look  at  the  wholesome,  free  existence  of  the  man  who 
takes  up  this  remunerative  business,  and  compare  it  with  the 
mechanical  drudgery  and  nerve-racking  work  of  the  city  man 
who  must  keep  his  nose  to  the  grindstone  from  dawn  till  mid 
night  if  he  intends  to  be  in  front  in  this  frightfully  fast  and 
overcrowded  race  for  existence ;  and  where  is  he  at  the  end, 
and  what  his  condition,  though  he  be  a  winner?    An  old  man, 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


overworked,  overrun,  stale,  useless,  unfit  and  unable  to  enjov 
the  wealth  he  has  amassed,  and  at  forty  or  fifty  years  of  age, 
rich  in  money,  but  penniless  in  health.  Is  the  game  worth  the 
candle,  when  with  healthy  exercise,  a  level  head  and  an  easily 
attainable  stock  breeding  knowledge,  a  man  can  amass  a  for- 
tune sufficient  for  the  requirements  of  any  normal  mind  a1 
an  early  age,  with  comparatively  no  mental  wear  and  tear,  and 
in  early  manhood,  not  only  be  independent  of  the  cares  and 
worries  of  life,  but  rest  happy  in  the  reflection  that  he  has  made 
his  money  honestly,  and  live  to  a  ripe  old  age  in  the  bosom 
of  his  family  to  enjoy  it? 

The  towns  and  cities  are  stocked  to  overflowing  with  the 
dregs  of  society,  glutted  with  the  refuse  of  worthlessness,  and 
filled  to  repletion  Avith  the  youth  of  the  country  who  have  been 
lured  there  by  stories  of  gold,  only  to  be  swamped  in  the 
avalanche  of  humanity  that  is  hurled  from  dreams  of  glory 
into  the  whirlpool  of  despair. 

The  agricultural  colleges  of  this  country,  after  years  and 
years  of  patient,  uphill  labor,  preparing  the  people  of  America 
for  conditions  they  knew  must  come  and  are  now  upon  us,  must 
contemplate  with  intense  satisfaction  the  fruits  of  their  labors 
and  for  the  rich  harvest  of  agricultural  knowledge  they  are 
yielding. 

The  tremendous  area  of  this  country,  which  doubtless 
fathered  the  thought  that  there  was  more  land  than  would 
ever  be  cultivated  and  turned  into  usefulness,  was  accountable 
for  arguments  against  the  necessity  for  scientific  farming  and 
advanced  methods  of  agriculture.  Present  day  conditions 
however,  have  shown  how  far  wrong  these  people  were,  and 
how  right  the  brainy,  farseeing  men  who  anticipated  conditions 
as  they  now  exist,  and  which,  with  all  their  farsightedness, 
they  are  at  present  only  partially  prepared  to  meet.  What 
these  pioneers  of  up-to-date  agriculture  have  accomplished  is 
written  down  in  tlie  s])lendid  institutions  of  the  country,  and 
stands  silhouetted  in  the  golden  sunset  as  a  never  crumbling 
monument  of  their  s])lendid  hopes  and  glorious  achievements. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


31 


-^•^^^^^..^ 


CHESTER  WHITES 


The  same  conditious  which  confronted  agricultural  Amer- 
ica at  the  advent  of  its  colleges,  stand  out  in  bold  relief  before 
the  producers  of  beef,  mutton  and  pork  animals  today,  as  well 
as  the  raising  of  the  various  breeds  of  horses  which  are  so 
much  in  demand  throughout  the  world. 

This  condition  of  the  live  stock  industry  of  America  focusses 
itself  upon  those  who  have  been  endeavoring  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  stock  man  through  modern  methods  of  breed- 
ing and  feeding,  as  demonstrated  in  the  live  stock  departments 
of  the  great  fairs  and  stock  shows  throughout  the  country. 

The  agricultural  colleges  have  augmented  their  splendid 
work  in  advanced  farming  by  making  breeding  upon  the  most 
practical  and  scientific  methods  one  of  the  great  aims  and  ob- 
jects of  their  usefulness.  Experimental  breeding  farms  have 
sprung  into  existence,  and  under  the  careful  nursing  and  fos- 
tering care  of  i)rofessors  who  have  spent  their  lives  in  arriv- 
ing at  a  point  of  present  day  perfection,  which  render  these 
institutions  second  to  none,  have  shown  most  clearly,  and 
proven  beyond  doubt  the  benefits  that  advanced  methods  in 
live  stock  breeding  mean  to  this  country  as  a  nursery,  and  the 
wide  world  as  a  market. 


32 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


SHORTHORN   BULL, 


ANGUS  BULL 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


33 


HEREFORD    BULL 


GALLOWAY    Bl'LL 


34  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


Among  all  the  great  fairs  and  stock  shows  of  the  United  States, 
the  International  Live  Stock  Exposition  at  Chicago  stands  pre- 
eminently as  the  embodiment  of  all  that  is  best  and  the  achieve- 
ment of  all  that  has  been  aimed  at  by  these  agricultural  colleges 
and  experimental  stations.  The  steady  improvement  which  has 
marked  the  progress  of  this  marvelous  exposition  in  the  breed- 
ing and  feeding  of  live  stock  year  by  year,  is  positive  proof  of 
its  extraordinary  success  in  the  improvement  of  meat  animals 
and  heavy  draught  horses.  The  champions  of  the  year,  from 
all  the  fairs  and  shows  of  the  country,  gather  at  this  court  of 
last  resort,  for  the  sentence  of  the  supreme  judges  of  the  land, 
whose  verdicts  are  final  and  cannot  be  apijealed. 

At  no  other  place  is  it  possible  to  give  the  students  and 
teachers  of  these  colleges,  or  the  lay  student,  such  practical 
and  liberal  education  on  live  stock  problems. 

The  student  and  stockman,  however,  are  not  the  only 
beneficiaries  of  this  great  show,  for  it  reaches  over  a  far  wider 
range  of  interest  than  this.  The  railroad  man  particularly  is 
interested  because  the  spread  and  development  of  the  live  stock 
industry  must  increase  the  traffic  and  tonnage  of  his  road  and 
aid  him  in  the  organization  of  his  system  and  methods  of  rapid 
transportation,  for  the  simple  reason  that  this  highly  bred  and 
early  matured  stock  requires  intelligent  handling,  and  a  method 
of  despatch  which  calls  for  rapidity  and  safety  of  movement, 
as  well  as  opening  up  other  and  larger  sections  of  the  country 
for  breeding  operations,  which  in  its  turn  means  an  increase 
in  his  railroad  mileage  as  well  as  adding  enormously  to  his 
returns.  To  put  it  plainly,  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  dependent 
upon  the  animals  fed  upon  it,  while  the  railroads  are  depend- 
ent upon  the  crops. 

The  capability  of  the  farmer  and  stockman  to  increase  his 
animal  production,  and  the  student  his  knowledge,  by  follow- 
ing the  teachings  so  plainly  shown  as  the  result  of  the  work 
done  by  these  colleges  and  experimental  stations,  will  be  in- 
creased tenfold  by  their  attendance  at  the  great  Chicago  Ex- 
position, watching    the    judging    of    the    various    breeds,  the 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


35 


methods  adopted  bv  the  men  whose  verdicts  are  so  carefully 
looked  for,  comparing  notes  and  ascertaining  the  Avhys  and 
wherefores  of  this  and  that  judgment,  and  employing  the 
twelve  days  of  the  combined  Horse  and  Live  Stock  Show  in 
a  workmanlike  investigation  of  the  different  lots  and  classes, 
they  will  obtain  more  useful,  lasting,  valuable  and  practical 
information,  than  they  would  gain  in  studying  even  the  best 
works  upon  the  subject  for  a  year. 


SHETLANDS 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  37 


J' 


THE  TOMORROW  OF  THE  STOCK  BREEDING 
INDUSTRY. 


SOME  poetical  wag,  commenting  upon  tlie  trials  and  vicis- 
situdes of  this  mortal  life,  and  the  rapid  changes  that 
are  made,  in  time  that  seems  too  short  for  anything,  re- 
marked, that 

"Grass  is  grass  and  hay  is  hay, 
We're  here  tomorrow  and  gone  today." 

The  man  meant  well,  and  there  is  a  truth  in  the  couplet, 
however  funnily  it  may  be  expressed. 

They  say  tomorrow  never  comes,  but  if  the  actual  word 
doesn't  arrive  in  reality,  the  rapidly  passing  days,  weeks, 
months  and  years,  make  us  very  positive  that  things  are  mov- 
ing, and  at  a  rate — while  the  progress  of  actual  time  is  just 
the  same — that  seems  to  be  impossible,  and  which — could  our 
fathers  reappear  and  behold — would  be  utterly  inconceivable 
to  them. 

This  seemingly  rapid  rate  of  speed  is  due  to  improvement, 
and  improvement  alone,  and  for  proof  we  have  only  to  look 
at  the  steam  engine  of  but  a  few  years  ago  and  the  locomotive 
of  today,  the  typesetter  of  only  a  little  while  back  and  the 
linotype  operator  at  his  work  now ;  the  steamship  of  but  a  few 
moons  since  and  the  ocean  flyer  of  the  present  time;  the  tele- 
phone, wireless  telegraphy,  and  statements  from  men  like  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge  and  Professor  Fessenden,  that  it  may  be  only  a 
question  of  time  before  weather  can  be  controlled  and  literally 
"manufactured,"  and  that  the  running  of  machinery  will  be 
accomplished  by  power  obtained  from  the  sun,  the  wind  and 
the  waters  of  the  sea.  In  addition  to  this.  Dr.  Chree  in- 
sists that  it  is  not  improbable  that  electricity  in  the  air  has 


38 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


How  different  from  their  dwelling  place  of  old, 
With  freedom's  joys  and  shelter  from  the  cold. 


influence  on  the  growth  and  health  of  trees,  and  that  in  a 
short  time  this  influence  ma}^  be  turned  to  great  agricultural 
and  economic  interest,  while  "hot  air,"  an  element  much  in 
vogue  at  the  present  time,  though  absolutely'  and  utterly  use- 
less, possessing  nothing,  meaning  nothing  and  devoid  of  the 
smallest  particle  of  value,  except  to  inflate  the  balloon  which 
is  intended  to  elevate  the  car  of  some  political  orator,  to 
heights  unknown  before  and  achievements  undreamed  of,  even 
in  the  political  world,  and  which  always  bursts,  we  are  told 
will  now  be  put  to  such  use  in  the  kitchens  of  our  homes  that 
will  do  away  entirely  with  wood,  coal,  coke  and  every  other  kind 
of  fuel,  to  the  intense  delight  of  our  wives,  the  cleanliness  of 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  39 


our  houses  and  the  everlasting  gratitude  of  the  owners  of  coal 
mines,  coal  merchants  and  vendors  of  warmth  producers. 
Well,  they  have  had  a  pretty  good  inning  and  deserve  a  well 
earned  rest. 

Now  let  us  look  for  a  moment  upon  improvement  in  an- 
other direction,  and  which  has  more  to  do  with  the  welfare 
of  the  peoples  of  the  earth  than  anything,  is  more  necessary 
than  anything  else,  and,  in  short,  the  tirst  and  foremost  of  all 
things  to  be  considered— "food'' — and  that  part  of  it  more 
particularly  which  we  call  "meat" — animal  flesh. 

Without  food  the  world  could  last  but  a  few  days,  and  with- 
out its  chief  essential,  meat,  but  a  comparatively  short  time 
longer,  and  that  time  would  only  be  long  enough  to  allow  the 
human  race  to  dwindle,  dwarf  and  die,  even  the  strongest,  most 
robust  and  most  rugged  of  them. 

The  weaker  and  the  less  vigorous  would  wither  and  die  like 
flies  at  the  end  of  summer,  or  like  a  rose  denied  the  warmth 
of  heaven,  the  air  of  the  glorious  day,  the  refreshing  dew  of 
night,  and  its  natural  food  from  the  generous  soil  of  the 
earth. 

Man  has  become  what  he  is,  from  a  diet  of  his  natural 
food,  meat,  and  though  omnivorous  in  his  habits,  and  able  in  a 
measure  to  maintain  himself  for  a  season  upon  the  fruits  of  the 
field,  still  without  the  basic  principle,  the  brain,  bone  and 
muscle  producer,  meat,  he  could  neither  maintain  nor  reproduce 
himself  to  the  same  standard  of  physical,  constitutional  and 
mental  excellence  in  which  he  is  found  in  our  time. 

The  question  of  stock  raising  in  America  today,  is  of  such 
momentous  importance  that  it  will  have  to  be  pushed  forward 
along  such  lines  and  pursued  by  such  methods  as  will 
eventually  make  it  the  very  foremost  industry  of  the  nation. 
The  time  is  coming  and  is  near  at  hand,  when  the  youth  of  this 
country  must  turn  his  attention  from  the  allurements  of  the 
towns,  the  follies,  frivolities  and  the  nothingness  of  lives  spent 
in  vice-gorged  cities  hunting  for  the  elusive  dollar  which 
Cometh  not,  and  get  him  back  to  mother  earth,  the  soil,  the 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  41 


farm,  the  great  free  open  land,  the  prairie,  the  valley,  the 
meadow,  and  there  take  np  methods  new,  the  modern  breeding 
of  the  lowing  herd,  the  bleating  sheep  and  the  swine  that 
maketh  the  shrill  noise. 

America  today,  is  increasing  in  population  so  rapildy,  that 
it  is  only  when  brongh  t  face  to  face  with  the  condition,  and  the 
question  of  meat  supply,  that  the  true  state  of  affairs  is  real- 
ized. Nothing  will  stop  the  influx  of  aliens  into  this  hospitable 
and  generous  land,  nothing  will  stay  the  enormous  increase  in 
population,  and  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  will  choke  the 
wail  of  man  for  meat. 


What  will  hapjien?  And  there  is  not  a  fraction  of  a 
moment  left  for  doubt.  Why,  America  will  not  be  able  to 
supply  her  growing  millions;  she  will  not  be  able  to  export 
the  refrigerator  and  canned  meats  that  have  made  her  the 
purveyor  of  other  lands,  and  the  commissariat  of  the  armies 
and  the  navies  of  the  world,  but  she  will  have  to  buy  for  her 
own  people,  and  at  such  a  price  as  will  shake  the  very  treas- 
uries of  her  almost  limitless  wealth. 

The  United  States  of  America  have  been  the  base  of  meat 
supplies  for  so  long  that  the  name  is  proverbial,  but  once  let 
the  other  nations  of  the  world  discover  that  her  supply  is  short, 
her  breeding  industry  not  producing  what  her  craving  children 
cry  for,  and  watch  them  put  the  screens  on,  watch  them  de- 
mand the  prices,  and  then  watch  the  result. 

America  is  capable  of  supplying  her  population,  whatever 
that  might  be,  with  double,  treble,  quadruple  and  more,  than 
it  needs  or  will  need  for  hundreds  of  years  to  come,  and  Avith 
the  name  she  has  earned,  the  fame  she  has  achieved  as  a  uni 
versal  provider,  is  it  worth  the  risk  to  run  the  chance 
of  being  outdone  in  the  struggle  for  existence  over  the  ques- 
tion of  meat,  when  she  has  wi  thin  her  doors,  the  resources  that 
only  need  development  along  modern  methods  of  breeding  and 
feeding  to  render  her  position  impregnable,  even  by  the  great- 
est of  other  stock  raising  countries.    America  must  not  forget 


42 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses, 


MAKING    BACON 


PUTTING  ON  MUTTON 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


43 


^HOliTHORN   COWS 


that  there  are  others,  and  live  ones,  too — progressive,  up-to- 
date,  rich  countries  that  are  buying  the  best  breeding  stock 
that  money  can  jiroduce.  Countries  keenly  alive  to  the  meat 
demands  of  a  rapidly  growing  world  that  would  run  their  tlags 
up  top  mast  high  and  belch  forth  a  salute  of  national  combina- 
tions that  would  shake  with  joy  the  other  nations  of  the  earth, 
to  see  America  running  second. 

With  the  splendid  perfection  to  which  modern  farming  and 
feeding  have  attained,  and  the  wonderful  methods  of  fertilizing 
and  inoculating  the  soil,  the  extraordinary  strides  irrigation 
has  made,  and  the  mechanical  conveniences  now  placed  in  the 
farmers',  breeders'  and  feeders'  hands,  stock  breeding  on 
modern  principles  can  be  made,  not  only  one  of,  but  the  most 
remunerative  of  all  pursuits,  as  well  as  one  of  enthralling  inter- 
est and  undreamed  of  possibilities. 

Compare  the  range  cattle  of  a  few  years  ago  with  the 
Shorthorn,  Angus,  and  Hereford  beef  cattle  of  to-day.     The 


44 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


HEREFORD    STEERS 


old-time  sheep  with  the  present  day  Southdowns,  Shropshires, 
Hampshires  and  other  breeds.  The  hogs  of  the  past  with  the 
Berkshires,  Poland-Chinas,  Durocs,  and  others  of  the  present. 
Compare  all  these,  I  say,  and  then  understand  that  cattle, 
sheep  and  swine  breeding  in  America  in  the  year  of  grace  1910 
is  in  its  infancy,  its  absolute  babyhood.  It  has  not  finished 
suckling;  it  has  not  left  its  mother's  breast. 

Look  at  the  canned  meats  of  but  a  short  time  ago  and  those 
of  today,  and  yet  with  all  their  superiority,  all  their  quality 
and  all  their  up-to-dateness,  the  canned  meats  of  tomorrow 
would  grace  a  banquet  table  of  today.  And  why — simply  and 
solely  on  account  of  improvement  and  improvement  alone. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  45 

THE   CHICAGO   INTERNATIONAL   LIVE   STOCK   EXPO- 
SITION AND  WHAT  IT  MEANS. 


THIS  immense  gathering  togetlier  of  live  stock  is  a  most 
active  and  potent  factor  in  extending  and  improving  the 
breeding  and  feeding  interests  of  this  country,  which 
year  by  year  is  placing  them  on  a  higher  plane  and  more  stable 
foundation.  The  improvement  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
herds  and  flocks  and  horses  of  the  great  Central  West,  through 
the  influence  of  this  show  is  marvelous,  and  the  state  of  per- 
fection it  will  reach  as  time  goes  on  will  be  still  more  extra- 
ordinary, and  those  who  come  after  us  will  speak  of  the  found- 
ers of  this  great  institution  and  accord  them  the  honor  which 
is  theirs,  as  we  at  present,  thank  the  pioneers  of  the  first  agri- 
cultural colleges  and  experimental  breeding  stations. 

The  idea,  above  all  others,  which  the  directors  of  the  Inter- 
national had  in  view  at  the  inception  of  the  institution,  was 
to  make  prominent  and  conspicuous  that  of  education.  Every 
feature  of  the  show  aims  at  the  betterment  of  everything  with 
whicli  it  is  concerned,  and  towards  the  most  improved  methods 
in  breeding  and  feeding. 

The  Chicago  International  Live  Stock  Exposition  is  with- 
out question  the  most  extensive  and  comprehensive  in  the 
world,  and  brings  together  a  greater  number  and  greater  va- 
riety of  breeds  than  are  to  be  seen  in  any  other  country. 

One  of  the  most  useful,  interesting  and  popular  features 
of  this  great  exhibition  is  found  in  the  recognition  it  gives  to 
the  agricultural  colleges  of  the  country.  The  experiment 
stations  connected  with  these  colleges  are  given  classifications 
which  are  limited  to  their  entries,  and  these  contests  have  in- 
spired the  colleges  of  competing  states  to  make  their  animal 
husbandry  departments  the  strongest,  most  popular  and  con- 
spicuous connected  with  these  institutions  of  learning.  Live 
stock  judging  contests  have  been  established  between  the  stu- 


4  6  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


dents  representing  a  dozen  or  so  of  the  leading  agricultural 
colleges  of  the  country  and  from  which  an  army  of  trained 
stockmen  are  annually  developed. 

The  promoters  and  officers  of  the  International  have  left 
nothing  undone  that  this  great  combination  of  cattlemen, 
horsemen  and  business  men  could  conceive,  and  still,  with  all 
they  have  done,  and  with  all  they  are  doing,  the  future  will 
present  such  conditions  as  will  dwarf  the  doings  of  today  in 
the  cattle  and  horse  breeding  industry  of  the  nation. 

Chicago,  the  great  and  rich  metropolis  of  the  prolilic  West, 
with  its  immense  stock  yards  and  packing  plants,  is  but  a 
village  in  comparison  with  what  it  will  eventually  become,  and 
this  is  not  only  because  of  its  situation,  but  because  of  the  fact 
that  the  \yest  is  the  land  of  extraordinary  resources,  prolific 
soil,  an  endless  source  of  food  supply,  and  a  territory  in  which 
live  stock  of  every  description  can  reach  perfection.  The  In- 
ternational last  year  amazed  the  throngs  who  witnessed  it  and 
astounded  the  Easterners  and  foreigners  who  came  to  see,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  their  impressions  and  experiences  will 
bring  others,  and  in  larger  numbers  to  the  City  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  and  who,  through  the  warm-hearted  generosity  and 
kindliness  of  their  Western  brethren,  will  reveal  to  other  people 
and  other  lands,  the  bounty  of  this  wonderful  Western  country, 
and  the  numbers,  size,  beauty  and  quality  of  the  animals 
thereof. 

Chicago,  with  its  brains,  wealth,  courage,  business  acumen 
and  splendid  position,  and  the  West,  with  its  immense  area, 
soil,  fertility  and  climate,  must  advance,  grow  and  develop  in 
spite  of  itself;  nothing  can  stay  its  progress,  nothing  divert  it 
from  its  splendid  course,  and  nothing  exceed  in  quantity  and 
quality  the  live  stock  that  comes  to  its  market  and  grows  and 
fattens  in  the  territories  around  it. 

The  immense  and  far-reaching  railroad  systems  which 
traverse  and  intersect  this  richest  of  all  breeding  and  agri- 
cultural sections  of  this  country,  and  Avhose  carrying  trade  is 
responsible  to  the  ranches  and  farms  tributary  to  these  veins 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  47 


of  eoiniiuinication,  offer  facilities,  that,  considei-in<j:  the  vastness 
and  richness  of  the  country  through  which  they  run,  can  be 
found  nowhere  else  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  owners  of  these  great  railroads  are  keenly  interested 
in  the  breeding  industry  of  the  nation,  and  it  is  only  natural, 
therefore,  that  they  should  wish  to  see  breeding  and  farming 
operations  extend  and  multiply.  The  faster  the  growth  of  the 
breeding  industry,  the  greater  will  railroad  facilities  become, 
and  cheaper  the  rates  of  transport.  This  means  that  the 
breeders  and  farmers  of  the  future  will  have  an  easier  and 
cheaper  road  to  traverse  than  did  their  fathers,  and  as  the 
capability  and  capacity  for  stock  raising  become  more  ap- 
parent, the  more  readily  Avill  the  markets  of  the  world  be  open 
to  them. 

Since  the  initial  exhibition  of  1900,  and  the  lesson  it  taught 
ten  years  ago,  the  amount  of  good  the  International  Live  Stock 
Exposition  has  done  to  breeders  is  tremendous,  its  results  were 
apparent  in  1904,  and  since  then  the  breeding  of  live  stock  has 
reached  a  pinnacle  of  excellence  to  which  it  never  before  at- 
tained, and  it  is  only  beginning. 

The  quality  of  cattle,  sheep  and  swine  produced  in  the 
West  is  excellent,  and  the  heavy  draught  horse  breeder  has 
seen  such  an  improvement  in  his  stock  and  such  an  increase 
in  price  as  has  never  before  been  known.  The  wonderful  six- 
horse  teams  now  so  popular,  and  into  the  ranks  of  which  every 
breeder  is  striving  to  jdace  his  stock,  were  born  of  this  Inter- 
national, for  before  the  last  named  date,  the  winning  pairs, 
fours  and  sixes,  came  from  Canada  and  Scotland.  Today  the 
West  is  working  and  showing  these  great  horses,  and  more 
than  that,  exporting  a  few,  and  this  feature  of  the  breeding 
industry  is  absolutely  in  its  babyhood.  Every  breeder  of  heavy 
draught  horses  in  the  Central  West  is  now  ambitious  to  pro- 
duce geldings,  not  only  good  enough  to  go  in  these  great  six- 
horse  teams,  but  to  be  individual  and  outstanding  winners  at 
the  International.  The  scrub  stallion  is  doomed,  for  the 
breeder  now  wants  the  very  best  that  money  can  produce,  be 


48  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


lie  Clydesdale,  Shire,  Percberon  or  Belgian.  In  regard  to 
heavy  harness  horses,  the  great  stables  of  the  East  have  pointed 
to  the  class  of  animals  required  for  this  purpose,  and  at  the 
horse  show  held  in  connection  with  the  Chicago  International 
Live  Stock  Exposition  have  exhibited  such  types  of  Hackneys 
and  other  horses  and  ponies  as  have  not  been  looked  upon  any- 
where else. 

The  Westerner  can  produce  horses  of  any  breed  as  good  and 
better  than  can  his  Eastern  neighbor,  and  he  can  do  it  cheaper 
and  in  larger  numbers ;  all  he  wants  is  a  model,  and  this  model 
these  great  Eastern  stables  are  providing.  Nothing  can  give 
more  practical  instruction  than  such  show  ring  lessons  as 
these,  and  so  the  Horse  Show  plays  its  part  in  an  educational 
way,  as  does  its  companion,  the  Stock  Show. 

The  heavy  draught  horse  and  the  heavy  harness  horse  are 
by  no  means  the  limit  of  the  fashionable  horse  world,  for 
Hunters,  Saddle  Horses,  Hackney  Ponies,  Polo  Ponies,  Welsh 
Ponies  and  Shetlands  are  in  great  and  increasing  demand,  and 
in  addition  to  these  animals,  the  Army  Horse,  for  which 
England,  France,  Germany,  the  whole  of  military  Europe  and 
Japan  are  crying,  could,  with  special  attention  to  the  careful 
breeding  of  the  classes  required,  be  bred  in  the  West  in  num- 
bers sufficient  to  supi)ly  them  all,  and  at  prices  that  would  pay, 
and  pay  well,  even  on  a  peace  footing,  but  which  would  be 
turned  into  fortunes  when  war  breaks  out,  and  war  is  sure  to 
come. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  49 


THE  CATTLE,  SHEEP  AND  SWINE  MOST  IN  DEMAND 
AS  MEAT  ANIMALS. 


THERE  are  so  many  breeds  of  cattle,  sheep  and  swine 
that  have  been  brought  to  the  present  day  acme  of  per- 
fection through  a  process  of  scientific  breeding  with 
practical  ends  in  view,  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  really 
the  prime  favorite.  Breeders  have  their  own  ideals  which  they 
take  the  utmost  pride  in  raising,  and  as  all  the  fashionable 
breeds  have  their  adherents,  and  all  of  them  are  such  valuable 
meat  producers  and  so  far  superior  to  anything  that  has  gone 
before,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  all  are  good,  and  that  each  breed 
can  be  made  to  pay  handsomely  in  the  hands  of  men  who  un- 
derstand them. 

Fashion  in  the  various  breeds  of  cattle,  sheep  and  swine,  as 
well  as  horses,  dogs  and  other  creatures,  changes,  but  at  pres- 
ent the  cattle  most  in  demand  as  meat  animals  are  Shorthorns, 
the  Aberdeen-Angus,  Herefords,  Galloways,  Polled  Durhams 
and  Bed  Polled.  All  of  these  breeds  are  excellent,  are  animals 
that  carry  an  enormous  amount  of  flesh  of  the  finest  quality 
and  put  it  on  quickly.  They  are  sound,  have  splendid  consti- 
tutions, beautiful  individuality  and  finish,  and  breed  to  type 
in  a  most  extraordinary  manner.  If  the  old  breeders  of  a  by- 
gone day  could  cast  their  eyes  over  a  herd  of  either  of  these 
breeds  and  compare  them  with  the  animals  they  used  to  raise 
it  would  be  hard  to  convince  them  that  nothing  but  careful 
breeding  had  brought  the  change,  and  wrought  it  in  so  short  a 
time.  If  such  wonders  as  these  have  been  produced  in  a  period 
of  time  that  seems  as  only  yesterday,  what  will  be  the  revela- 
tions that  will  present  themselves  in  the  same  time  hence,  with 
such  foundations  as  these  to  work  upon,  and  all  the  advantages 
that  are  daily  being  brought  to  light  through  the  always  im- 
proving methods  of  breeding  and  the  advantages  of  scientific 
feeding? 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


51 


The  old  breeders  did  their  best ;  they  plodded  along  in  their 
old-fashioned  way,  taking  advantage  of  any  opportunity  or 
casual  cross  that  seemed  worthy  of  cultivation,  but  they  lacked 
the  assistance  of  science  and  the  helping  hands  of  the  agri- 
cultural colleges.  Today,  not  only  are  the  breeders  and  feeders 
working  upon  the  discoveries  of  these  splendid  institutions  and 
making  capital  out  of  what  they  have  placed  within  their 
reach,  but  the  up-to-date  and  educated  breeder  is  anxiously 
looking  for  further  improvements  which  the  agricultural  col- 
leges and  experimental  stations  are  striving  to  discover,  and 
which  they  will  discover  and  bring  to  an  advanced  perfection 
that  is  as  yet  undreamed  of. 

The  day  of  the  hajdiazard  breeder  and  promiscuous  crosser 
has  gone  forever,  and  no  one  can  hope  to  make  stock  breeding 
and  feeding  a  success  unless  he  follows  the  most  up-to-date 
methods  of  procedure,  both  as  regards  breeding  and  feeding. 

It  is  astounding  to  the  outsider,  and  almost  impossible  of 
realization,  that  apart  from  type,  size  and  meat  producing 
qualities  with  the  smallest  amount  of  bone,  in  all  these  breeds, 
that  the  quality  of  the  meat  itself  and  the  ability  to  ]nit  on 


WHITE  FACES  IX  A  BROWN  STUDY 


62 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


A  DUROC   JERSEY  SOW 


g.&3-''ft-  -a-r-JS^  •r^J»t>g"KLr>-. 


1.'  »«^<ii^"Si.;^i'K»JW."»t>.  t-, 
AND    CHINA    SOWS 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


53 


weight  in  a  minimum  amount  of  time  has  been  brought  about 
coincident  with  the  shape,  make  and  characteristics  of  the 
animals.  This  is  scientific  breeding  of  the  most  advanced 
kind  as  we  understand  it  today,  and  which  has  proved  by  re- 
sults to  be  not  only  scientific  but  practical  in  the  extreme. 

Stock  breeding  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term 
has  been  regarded  as  rough,  coarse  work,  but  let  it  not  be  over- 
looked for  an  instant  that  the  gentle  hand  of  refinement  has 
marked  the  course  of  every  stage  of  advancement  until  the 
lean,  angular,  coarse  looking  cattle  of  the  past  have  been 
moulded  into  the  excpiisitely  beautiful  creatures  of  today. 

We  have  from  childhood  looked  upon  the  pig  as  an  almost 


sm:.  ipSHIRES 


54  Hlrds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


unspeakable  animal,  and  as  we  recall  him  in  his  squalid  sty  of 
the  old  days,  he  almost  seemed  so ;  but  look  at  him  now,  as  we 
see  him  feeding  on  the  broad  acres  of  this  Western  land,  or 
contemplate  him  in  prize  lots  at  the  great  stock  shows  of  the 
countr}',  and  we  stand  amazed  at  the  wondrous  change. 

Compare  for  an  instant  the  old  spotted  sow  with  her  snout 
buried  to  the  eves  in  disgusting  swill,  as  she  stands  up  to  her 
belly  in  filth,  and  then  look  upon  the  Berkshire,  the  Poland- 
China,  the  Chester  White,  the  Duroc-Jersey,  the  Tamworth,  the 
Yorkshire  and  the  Hampshire  breeds  in  their  surroundings  to- 
day. Comparisons  they  say  are  odious,  but  can  anyone  imagine 
anything  more  elevating  than  we  see  in  this  extraordinary 
transformation?  The  stock  breeders'  calling  is  a  manly,  splen- 
did and  enobling  one.  The  man  Avho  engages  in  it  along  the 
lines  that  he  must  follow  in  order  to  make  a  success  of  his  un- 
dertaking, is  helping  the  Creator's  great  work  designed  for  a 
goal  of  exquisite  achievement ;  he  is  playing  well  his  part ;  he 
is  feeding  his  brethren ;  he  is  improving  the  health  and  strength 
of  his  fellow  men,  adding  to  the  manliness  of  man,  and  increas- 
ing the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  world. 

Sheep,  as  an  emblem  of  gentleness,  we  have  loved  to  hear 
of  and  read  about  in  our  childhood  days,  and  we  learned  to 
love  them  when  we  saw  them  in  the  fields  and  heard  the 
mothers  call  their  lambs,  as  the  little  creatures  raced  and 
gamboled  in  the  meadows.  We  recall  the  tinkling  bells,  as  the 
flock  was  slowly  driven  down  some  beautiful  lane  to  its  fold 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


55 


HAMPSHIRES 


at  night.  They  all  seemed  the  same  to  us  in  those  days,  and 
really  there  was  but  little  difference  as  compared  with  what 
we  see  today.  Look  at  the  Shropshire,  the  Hampshire,  the 
Cotswold,  the  Southdown,  the  Cheviot,  the  Dorset,  the  Oxford- 
Down,  the  Leicester,  the  Lincoln,  the  Suffolk  and  the  Ram- 
bouillet,  which  are  the  fashionable  breeds  of  today,  and  see 
how  they  compare  with  those  that  were  thought  great  when  we 
were  boys. 

The  whole  thing  is  beautiful  in  the  extreme,  and  in  it  we 
can  but  see  the  hand  of  a  Divine  power  that  works  only  for 
good,  and  towards  an  end  that  must  reach  absolute  perfec- 
tion. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


57 


HORSES. 


OF  all  the  breeds  of  horses  that  use  and  fashion  make  neces- 
sary and  valuable,  the  heavy  draught  horse  from  a  live 
stock  point  of  view  stands  paramount  and  pre-eminent. 
Never  in  the  history  of  heavy  draught  horse  breeding  has  this 
class  of  animal  been  in  such  demand  or  so  valuable,  and  not 
withstanding  the  motor  truck,  he  is  gradually  becoming  more 
so.  No  mechanical  device  has  yet  been  discovered,  nor  will  be 
discovered  for  who  shall  say  when,  that  will  take  the  i)lace  of 


SHIRE   STALLION 


58 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


SHIRE   MARE 


this  great  powerful  and  magnificent  animate  creature,  capable 
of  hauling  immense  loads  and  along  such  places  and  thorough- 
fares as  nothing  else  could  do,  and  where  motors  powerful 
enough  to  bear  the  loads,  Avould  be  incapable  of  dealing  with 
them  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  them  handy,  serviceable  and 
practical.  The  brewer's  dray,  the  immense  wagons  for  hauling 
coal,  machinery  and  other  cumbrous  material,  as  well  as  for 
opening  up  the  vast  territories  of  as  yet  untouched  sections  of 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Morses. 


59 


CLYDESDALE  STALLION 


the  country,  it  has  been  proved  that  size,  strength,  weight  and 
power  is  of  so  much  advantage  that  the  heavy  draught  horse 
will  completely  replace  the  lighter  draught  breeds,  until,  as  is 
always  the  case,  the  weaker  must  succumb  to  the  strong. 

The  demand  for  these  great  creatures  today,  not  only  in 
this  country  but  all  over  the  world,  and  the  enormous  prices 
paid  for  them  is  almost  past  belief;  where  do  they  all  come 
from?  Why,  England,  Scotland,  France  and  Belgium.  This 
great,  young,  rich  and  growing  country  is  literally  screaming 


60 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


CLYDESDALE   MARE 


for  these  animals,  and  they  are  one  of  the  few  things  that 
America  is  unable  to  supply  to  her  own  people.*  The  countries 
just  named  are  breeding  these  horses  and  getting  rich  upon 
them,  and  this  wonderful  grazing,  breeding  and  feeding  land 
is  going  abroad  and  jjaying  i)rices  for  animals  that  they  ur- 
gently require  and  must  have,  which  makes  the  foreign  breeder 
laugh  in  his  sleeve,  while  the  next  moment  he  goes  down  on 
his  knees  and  thanks  his  God  that  it  may  ever  "be  so. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


61 


The  situation  is  ridiculous  when  it  is  considered  that  with 
all  the  pure  Perclierons,  Belgians,  Clydesdales  and  Shires  in 
this  country  there  are  almost  none  that  have  been  bred  here. 

Foreign  breeders  will  not  sell  their  best  stallions  or  their 
best  mares,  except  for  prices  that  their  own  countrymen  can- 


PERCHEROX  STALLION 


62 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


PERCHERON   MARE 


not  afford  to  pay,  or  refuse  to  give,  and  then  open  their  mouths 
so  wide  when  an  American  buyer  appears  as  to  make  the  price 
prohibitive.  Here  is  a  field  of  enterprise  as  yet  almost  un- 
touched, that  will  yield  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars  to 
those  who  take  it  up,  and  take  it  up  sensibly,  practically  and 
thoroughly. 

The  blood,  the  breeding,  the  size,  the  weight,  the  bone,  the 
substance,  the  temper,  temperament  and  disposition  are  there 
ready-made  and  can  be  bought  for  dollars.  The  foreigner  has 
had  all  the  trouble ;  it  is  he  who  has  made  them  what  they  are. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


63 


and  it  is  he  who  has  made  them  worth  the  money  they  bring. 
The  American  has  only  to  lay  in  a  stock  of  this  extraordinarily 
v^aluable  material,  reproduce  it  on  his  own  soil  and  sell  it  to 
the  world  in  ever  increasing  quantity.  With  the  opening  up 
of  the  enormous  sections  of  virgin  territory,  here  and  in 
Canada,  Mexico,  South  America,  Africa  and  the  Far  East — 
and  they  will  all  want  them — America  will  find  a  market  thai 
will  in  time  tax  even  her  own  extraordinary  resources,  but  thai 
will  be  a  long  time,  and  in  that  time  who  can  count  the 
millions  that  will  have  gone  into  the  American  breeders" 
pockets,  and  this  is  only  the  draught  horse  side  of  the  ques- 
tion. 


f  % 


BELGIAN    STALLION 


64 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Hcrses. 


BELGIAN    MARE 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


65 


HACKNEYS. 


THE  hackney  is  the  most  fashionable  and  popular  heavy 
harness  horse  in  the  world  today,  and  brings  more 
money  than  any  other.  America  and  every  other  coun- 
try on  earth  is  going  to  England  to  buy  them  at  prices  that 
would  make  George  Washington  turn  over  in  his  grave,  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  sit  up,  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte  get  clean 
out  of  his  resting  place;  not  because  these  gentlemen  would 


HACKNEY   STALLION 


66 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


HACKNEY    MARK 


regard  the  hackney  as  the  best  kind  of  horse  for  military  pur- 
poses— an  animal  that  was  always  uppermost  in  each  of  their 
minds — but  because  they  would  see  in  half  a  dozen  fashionable 
hackneys  as  much  money  value  as  would  have  mounted  a  regi- 
ment of  cavalry  in  their  days. 

Not  only  is  the  hackney  the  most  fashional)le  and  valuable 
of  heavy  harness  horses  at  present,  but  he  is  becoming  more 
and  more  so  as  time  goes  on.  There  are  fortunes  upon  fortunes 
in  him,  and  he,  like  the  heavy  draughter,  is  a  ready-made  and 
highly  finished  aninml  of  the  highest  order.    We  see  him  every- 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  67 


where;  we  find  him  in  the  capitals  and  fashionable  towns  and 
country  places  of  every  European  land,  as  well  as  in  every  hole 
and  corner  of  the  British  possessions.  We  find  him  in  Argen- 
tina, and  even  in  the  far  East,  and,  like  the  Shire  and  the 
Clydesdale,  where  does  he  come  from?  England,  of  course. 
America  is  breeding  a  few,  but  what  do  they  amount  to  among 
so  many.  He  is  a  popular  favorite,  and  in  England  is  being 
l)red  with  greater  care  today  than  he  has  ever  been  before. 
Other  countries  have  caught  the  hackney  fever,  and  he  is  being 
exported  all  over  the  world.  Within  the  past  twelve  months 
the  United  States  and  the  Argentine  Reiniblic  have  imported 
no  less  than  sixty  stallions  and  fifty-five  mares  for  breeding 
purposes  from  English  breeders,  and  Australia,  Canada,  Cape 
Colony,  New  Zealand,  France,  Spain,  Austria,  Russia,  Bel- 
gium, Japan  and  Chili  have  been  heavy  purchasers.  This 
indicates  what  a  general  favorite  he  is,  and  means  very  plainly 
that  breeding  will  pay,  and  it  will  pay  in  America  better  than 
anywhere,  when  once  they  get  him  here,  and  get  him  going 
<m  the  same  sound  lines  as  the  British  have  done. 


68 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


HUNTERS. 


THE  hunter  is  another  horse  in  which  is  hidden  untold 
profit,  if  his  breeding  were  taken  up  in  this  country 
on  lines  calculated  to  fit  him  for  hunting  as  it  is  con- 
ducted in  England,  and  will  eventually  be  conducted  here,  and 
to  breed  him  with  bone,  size,  substance,  weight,  carrying  capa- 
city, speed  and  stamina  that  would  make  him  appeal  to  hunt- 
ing men.  In  England,  during  the  five  months  of  the  hunting 
season,  fifty  thousand  people  at  the  very  least  may  be  put  down 


^ 

■# 

■I.;..;/     :, 

A   WEIGHT    CARRYING   HUNTER 
(Copyright  by  W.  A.  Rouch.) 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  69 


as  the  number  who  hunt  regularly  and  who  keep  anywhere 
from  three  to  a  hundred  horses  or  more  for  this  purpose,  while 
between  forty  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars  are  spent  annually 
upon  this  sport  alone.  Even  the  great  Irish  breeders,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  English  and  ^Scotch,  cannot  supply  thesQ  hunting 
people  with  mounts,  and  they  pay  tremendous  prices  for  them. 
America,  and  particularly  the  East,  is  getting  the  hunting 
habit  badly,  and  the  sport,  though  still  in  its  infancy,  is  grow- 
ing rapidly  in  public  favor.  It  will  not  be  long  before  America 
will  have  its  Leicestershires,  Warwickshires  and  Xorthampton- 
shires,  and  hunting  centers,  like  Melton  Mowbray,  Market 
ECarborough  and  Rugby,  will  be  established,  and  to  Avhich  will 
flock  the  wealth  and  fashion  of  the  country  during  the  hunting 
months.  The  large  numbers  of  Americans  who  have  been  go- 
ing to  England  and  Ireland  for  years  to  hunt,  and  who  are 
maintaining  large  establishments  in  those  countries  for  this 
purpose,  are  beginning  to  ask  themselves  the  question,  "why 
cannot  we  do  this  in  our  own  country?"  They  will  do  it,  and 
as  America  never  does  things  by  halves,  it  will  be  done  on  such 
a  magnificent  scale  and  on  such  an  expensive  one,  that  the  wise 
men  who  have  hunters  of  the  right  kind  for  sale,  will  be  able 
to  retire  from  business  and  take  to  hunting  themselves  for 
amusement.  Apart  from  this,  there  is  a  splendid  market  for 
American  hunters  in  England  today  if  the  American  breeders 
would  only  produce  the  right  stamp. 


70  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


POLO  PONIES. 


POLO  originated  in  Persia  over  a  tliousand  years  ago,  and 
from  whence  it  spread  after  several  centuries  to  tlie 
North  West  Provinces  of  India,  and  from  there  was  ac- 
quired by  the  British  after  their  occupancy  of  that  country. 
Today  it  is  the  best  and  most  manly  of  all  games,  and  is  by  far 
the  most  popular  among  military  men,  although  it  is  played 
a  great  deal  by  others  who  can  alford  it.  England  is  the  home 
of  modern  polo,  and  while  the  game  is  played  more  extensively 
in  India  than  any  other  country,  still  more  money  is  expended 
on  the  sport  in  ponies,  clubs,  grounds,  etc.,  in  England  than 
anywhere  else.  America,  as  is  well  known,  has  taken  the  game 
up  in  earnest,  and  has  produced  such  marvelous  players  within 
the  last  few  years  as  to  be  able  to  defeat  the  mother  country  at 
her  own  game,  and  wrest  from  her  that  coveted  trophy,  won 
by  her  in  1886  and  retaken  by  a  team  of  young  Americans  last 
year. 

Here  again  is  another  example  of  a  game,  sport,  pastime, 
or  whatever  you  like  to  call  it,  with  the  horse  as  the  central 
figure,  and  which  is  absolutely — notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
America  is  today  the  champion  polo  nation  of  the  world — still 
in  its  swaddling  clothes.  America,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
])laces  in  the  East  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  is  new  to  the  game ; 
it  does  not  know  its  fascination,  its  excitement,  its  speed,  its 
thrilling  dash  and  the  beauty  of  its  play,  but  it  is  learning  fast 
and  becoming  so  enthusiastic  over  it  that  the  country  in  a  few 
years  from  now  will  i>lay  more  polo  than  the  combined  coun- 
tries of  Euro])e;  she  has  the  Avealth,  enthusiasm  and  the  de- 
sire to  compete  and  win,  but  with  all  this  she  has  not  got  the 
ponies. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


71 


(Copyright   by  W.    A.    Rouch.) 

Nine-tenths  of  the  ponies  that  the  American  team  rode 
wlien  they  won  the  cup  the  British  had  lield  for  twenty-four 
years  were  English  bred  and  English  purchased  and  bought  by 
the  Americans  at  staggering  figures.  Does  not  this  seem  absurd 
when  we  consider  the  breeding  resources  of  this  country? 

The  Western  range  pony  is  one  of  the  hardest,  toughest  and 
gamest  of  ponies,  with  heart,  grit  and  stamina  enough  to  sup- 
I)ly  a  horse  twice  his  size,  and  some  of  them  have  a  good  turn 
of  speed,  but  when  it  comes  to  first  class  polo  and  crossing 
sticks  with  players  mounted  on  ponies  that  are  bred  for  the 
game,  most  of  them  thoroughbred  or  as  near  it  as  possible, 
as  fast  as  race  horses,  and  with  bone  and  substance  sufficient 


72  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


to  carry  a  heavy  man,  they  are  outraced  and  outplayed  to  such 
an  extent  that  competition  would  be  useless. 

With  polo  pony  breeding  taken  hold  of  in  earnest  in  this  coun- 
try, and  pursued  upon  lines  similar  to  those  adopted  in  Eng- 
land, America  could  breed  polo  ponies  that  could  not  be  beaten 
anywhere,  and  would  not  only  be  able  to  supply  the  demands 
which  are  here  today,  and  are  increasing  by  leaps  and  bounds, 
but  would  create  an  export  trade  that  other  nations  would  only 
be  too  glad  to  take  advantage  of.  This  is  another  side  of  the 
breeding  question,  and  presents  the  lamentable  spectacle  of 
America  being  the  champion  polo  nation  of  the  world,  but 
unable  to  breed  her  own  ponies. 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  73 


THE  ARMY  HORSE. 


IT  is  very  nice  to  hear  of  peace  conferences,  international  dis- 
armament, the  general  existence  of  brotherly  love  and  no 
disagreements  that  would  lead  to  warfare;  it  is  splendid, 
beautiful,  ideal,  but  utterly  impracticable  and  impossible  as 
man  exists  today.  There  is  too  much  territory  on  the  face  of 
this  beautiful  world  undiscovered,  uncivilized,  uncultivated, 
undeveloped,  rich  beyond  computation,  and  so  valuable  as 
needs  must  make  it  the  bone  of  contention  between  the  great 
powers  whether  they  own  it  today  or  whether  they  do  not. 
Man  is  not  yet  far  enough  removed  from  his  savage  fighting  an- 
cestors to  sit  quietly  down  and  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  idealist 
as  long  as  there  are  rich  earthly  prizes  to  be  won,  or  interna- 
tional arguments  to  be  settled. 

Arbitration  will  go  a  certain  distance  in  the  apparently 
amicable  settlement  of  comparatively  small  matters ;  but  power, 
might,  and  shot  and  shell,  will  constitute  the  final  court  of 
appeal  when  nations  disagree;  and  so  it  will  go  on  until  such 
an  advanced,  such  a  high,  and  such  an  enlightened  education, 
shall  have  made  the  peoples  of  the  earth  so  fair,  so  friendly, 
and  so  pure  of  mind,  as  to  render  wars  unnecessary.  This, 
however,  can  only  come  with  the  slow  but  sure  improvement 
and  refining  influence  of  evolution,  and  in  a  day  of  which  the 
most  enlightened,  learned,  and  far  seeing,  can  but  imagine. 

The  present  generation  will  see  wars  and  bloodshed  such  as 
in  all  probability  have  never  yet  been  chronicled,  and  historians 
will  write  of  future  divisions  of  the  earth,  as  geographers  will 
draw  maps  that  will  apportion  the  land  to  others.  Kingdoms 
will  disappear,  and  republics  rise  and  fall.  The  day  of  peace 
is  not  yet,  but  the  hour  of  war  is  at  hand. 

Of  all  the  sinews  of  war,  none  are  more  necessary  than 
horses,  and  never  in  the  history  of  the  world  have  the  great 
military  nations  of  the  earth  maintained  such  enormous  stand- 
ing armies  as  they  are  doing  today;  never  in  their  history 


74 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses 


A  THOROUGHBRED  STALLION  SUITABLE  TO  GET  CAVALRY  HORSES 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  75 


were  they  in  such  need  of  horses ;  and  never  was  the  world  so 
incapable  of  supplying  them.  With  all  the  demand  for  heavy 
draught  horses,  hunters,  hackneys,  and  polo  ponies,  it  is  ques- 
tionable, whether  all  these  different  breeds  combined,  are  so 
sorely  needed  as  army  horses ;  and  with  the  facilities  of  climate, 
range,  grass,  water,  feed,  and  territory,  the  United  States  of 
America  could  supply  the  Armies  of  Europe  and  Japan,  as 
well  as  their  own,  with  horses  suitable  for  military  purposes, 
if  they  would  go  about  it  in  the  right  way,  and  breed  the  proper 
kind/  Apart  from  this,  after  starting  upon  the  right  founda- 
tion in  regard  to  parent  stock,  they  could  produce  these  ani- 
mals as  cheaply  as  they  can  breed  range  ponies,  and  they  w^ould 
be  able  to  sell  these  horses  when  four  years  old,  at  a  hand- 
some profit;  and  when  a  great  war  actually  broke  out,  the 
breeders  who  had  them,  would  make  fortunes  so  rapidly,  that 
they  would  think  watches,  clocks,  and  time,  had  gone  wrong. 

Not  only  would  they  be  able  to  supply  remounts  to  the 
various  armies  so  amply  and  so  satisfactorily  as  would  cause 
this  country  to  be  regarded  as  the  great  source  of  army  horse 
supply,  but  by  breeding  them  in  the  way  it  would  be  necessary 
to  breed  them,  there  would  be  among  the  enormous  numbers 
bred,  a  tremendous  lot  of  animals  suitable  for  other  purposes, 
and  particularly  hunters  and  saddle  horses,  that  w^ould  bring 
long  individual  prices  in  the  American,  European,  and  other 
markets.  So  much  in  a  few  words  for  the  Army  horse.  To 
quote  a  theatrical  expression,  "There's  millions  in  it." 


76 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


CHILDREN'S  AND  OTHER  PONIES. 


ANOTHER  great  and  remunerative  enterprise  in  connection 
with  breeding  operations,  is  that  which  centers  itself 
in  the  production  of  ponies  other  than  the  polo  pony, 
of  various  breeds  and  for  various  uses.  Foremost  among  these 
little  animals  at  present,  is  the  Shetland ;  that  beautiful,  docile, 
intelligent,  sound,  hardy,  and  safe  little  creature,  which  may 
truly  be  called  the  children's  equine  pet.  He  is  by  far,  better 
suited  and  better  adapted  to  children's  use  than  any  other,  and 
for  the  first  lessons  in  juvenile  equitation,  he  is  without  an 


shp:tland  pony  stallion 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


77 


WELSH    PONY 


equal.  America  lias  taken  to  him  kindly,  and  he  is  being  bred 
by  a  few  enterprising  men  with  success  and  gratitude.  There 
is  room  for  him  here  in  unlimited  numbers,  and  splendid  re- 
turns await  others  who  will  take  him  up. 

Another  pony  that  is  gaining  favor,  because  of  his  beauty, 
and  usefulness,  is  the  Welsh  pony.  He  is  better  suited  to  older 
children  than  is  the  Shetland,  and  will  become  much  sought 
after  for  that  stage  of  juvenile  existence,  which  comes  between 
the  Shetland  pony  age  and  the  time  when  they  are  able  to  ride 
small  horses.  He  is  a  hardy,  sound  constituted  animal,  beauti- 
ful to  look  upon,  and  will  become  a  prime  favourite  here  as 
time  goes  on. 


78  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 

Hackney  ponies  for  fashionable  harness  work,  and  particu- 
larly for  ladies  to  drive  on  social  visits  and  for  pleasure,  are 
the  rage  in  England;  they  fetch  tremendous  prices,  and  are 
the  most  perfect  harness  ponies  in  existence.  The  breeding  of 
these  beautiful  little  animals  has  been  taken  up  in  this  coun- 
try in  a  small  way,  but  it  is  modest  in  the  extreme,  though  it 
offers  a  field  in  the  great  breeding  industry  that  will  grow  and 
mature  into  a  rich  harvest.  The  Hackney  pom^  is  an  animal 
that  England  is  exporting  to  every  country  where  she  is  send- 
ing her  Hackney  horses.  Why  should  not  America  profit  by 
her  example,  enterprise,  and  success? 


HACKNEY    PONY 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


79 


THE  SADDLE  HORSE. 

As  to  what  constitutes  a  saddle  horse  in  this  country  is  a 
much  discussed  question.  The  fashionable  animal,  and  the  one 
most  favored,  particularly  for  park  use,  is  the  Kentucky-bred 
tliree-gaited  horse.  That  he  fills  the  part,  at  least  in  the  eyes 
of  American  horsemen,  there  is  no  question,  and  as  riding  is 
becoming  extremely  fashionable  and  that  young  America  is 
cultivating  horsemanship  from  his  early  years,  it  goes  without 
saying  that  tlie  breeding  of  this  particular  class  of  horse  will 
bcome  a  much  more  important  industry  than  it  is  today, 
and  like  the  other  l)reeds  alluded  to,  will  occupy  the  attention 
of  breeders  in  the  future  far  more  than  lie  does  at  present. 


A    SADDLE   HORSE 


80 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 


THE  GAITED   SADDLE  HORSE. 

This  purely  American  production,  beloved  and  justly  so,  by 
the  South  and  West,  is  an  animal  of  imposing  presence  and 
splendid  individuality,  superb  carriage,  rare  courage  and  intel- 
ligence, and  fine  temper.  He  has  been  bred  with  much  care, 
and  his  gaits  and  characteristics  cultivated  with  great  judg- 
ment. He  stands  in  a  class  by  himself  among  the  equine 
breeds,  and  although  he  is  the  only  saddle  horse  that  the  South- 
erner and  Westerner  considers  worth  while,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  he  will  ever  become  fashionable  on  the  bridle  paths 


A    GAITED    SADDLE   HORSE 


Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses.  81 

and  in  the  parks  of  the  East,  or  attract  the  foreigner  enough 
to  make  him  valuable  in  other  countries  as  a  riding  horse.  He 
is,  however,  a  gem  of  his  kind,  and  being  of  American  breed, 
should  be  cultivated  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  love  him  so 
much  and  who  have  taken  infinite  pains  is  making  him  what  he 
is  todav. 


THE   SECRET  OF  GREAT   BRITAIN'S   SUCCESS   IN 
BREEDING. 


THE  success,  and  the  perfection  of  all  the  great  breeds  of 
live  stock  that  have  emanated  from  the  British  Islands, 
are  due  to  the  thoroughness,  the  soundness,  and  the  de- 
termination never  to  breed  into  any  family,  or  through  any  in- 
dividual, that  does  not  measure  up  in  every  particular  to  the 
standard  of  excellence  that  the  finished  breeders  of  these 
islands  have  in  view.  This  subject,  so  comprehensive,  so  in- 
teresting, and  so  beautiful,  can  only  be  alluded  to  here  in  the 
most  elementary  way.  It  is  a  subject  so  deep,  so  entertaining, 
and  so  entrancing,  that  to  write  of  it  in  detail,  would  occupy 
a  life  time,  not  only  of  profound  thought  and  consideration, 
but  of  fascination  and  delight. 

All  the  breeds  of  cattle,  sheep,  swine  and  horses  that  have 
been  alluded  to  in  this  little  book,  have  reached  the  acme  of 
present-day  perfection,  and  the  American  breeder  who  wishes 
to  take  up,  and  make  a  business  of  reproducing  any  of  these 
breeds,  has  the  ready-made  material  to  go  upon,  and  not  all  the 
uphill  labor,  disappointments,  and  failures  to  confront  him 
that  his  cousins  across  the  water  attacked  and  overcame. 

The  Britisher,  in  the  cases  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine,  has 
bred  for  constitutional  soundness,  individuality,  quality,  size, 
and  rapid  meat-producing  properties,  with  the  least  possible 
amount  of  bony  structure ;  and  in  the  case  of  horses,  for  bone, 
substance,  quality,  individuality,  size,  weight,  and  i)ower,  com- 
bined with  grit  and  stamina,  speed  and  action,  according  to  the 


82  Herds  and  Flocks  and  Horses. 

requirements  of  the  various  breeds,  with  temper,  temperament, 
and  constitutional  and  physical  soundness  in  all.  He  has  not 
been  influenced  or  led  away  by  that  fatal  mistake,  but  fascinat- 
ing desire  for  speed,  at  the  expense  of  everything  else ;  and  as  a 
consequence,  among  horses,  he  has  not  only  produced  the 
grandest  specimens  of  the  various  equine  breeds,  but  he  has 
produced  the  most  extraordinary  action  and  the  greatest  speed 
the  world  has  ever  known,  and  in  infinitely  larger  propor- 
tions, plus  a  bony  frame  of  anatomical  perfection,  and  an  out- 
line of  exquisite  beauty. 

These  are  the  lines  upon  which  to  proceed  in  order  to  in- 
sure success,  and  if  the  stockmen  and  breeders  of  this  country, 
their  sons,  and  others,  whose  tastes  tend  towards  this  free, 
healthy,  manly,  useful,  interesting  and  remunerative  outdoor 
business,  will  take  it  up  upon  the  lines  suggested,  they  will 
not  only  make  themselves  absolutely  independent  long  before  a 
silvery  shading  falls  upon  the  hair  that  crowds  their  heads,  or 
the  snowy  white  of  years  tells  the  tale  of  passing  strength,  but 
they  will  rea])  the  golden  reward  of  their  labors  while  yet  in 
the  bloom  of  manhood,  when  life  is  sweet,  and  the  Western 
sunset  glorious. 


A/ebster 


\ir)iQ, 


"I 


